Catastrophic policy decisions - undertaken despite opposition from the ppl most likely to be affected - and all you have to do if you are wealthy enough or a seasoned politician is pick the moment that works best for you to say "my bad."
The media, pundits, and much of the public will unquestioning treat these indivs as leaders & problem-solvers. And they accept this as their rightful position. Meanwhile the lives of ppl harmed by these failed policies are just collateral damage to the leadership of "great men."
Tank the economy and cause tens of thousands to lose their homes? Take your bailout and continue to "lead." Hundreds of millions for a failed plan to transform Newark schools? It just didn't work out. Help decimate public school system in Michigan?Meet your new Secy of Education
Contribute to catastrophic blow to democracy in 2016 w/your unregulated online platform? Sorry. Want to do better for 2020, but let me tell you why I'm a First Amendment & civil rights hero.
Lives ruined by "stop & frisk"? Young Black and Brown men relentlessly harassed, communities beseiged, trust irrevocably broken betw communities and law enforcement. Sorry. I'm running for President. So, sorry.
Listen, I think it's great that people can come to recognize the error of their ways. It's important for leaders to grow and to learn. But this has become a familiar dance by those who arrogantly pursued policies that visited catastrophe on the lives of ordinary ppl.
An apology must come with real humility, and a willingness to work to repair the damage done. And we should not continue to exalt those who have failed so catastrophically as though the lives of the ppl harmed don't matter. Black lives DO matter. As do the lives of children.
And working class people. And middle class homeowners. And the integrity of our democracy matters. Let's meet across the table as equals and create solutions that include the voices and ideas of those at the bottom, who live w/the consequences of the mistakes made by the mighty.
